The Death of Egil Skallagrimsson

Saga-hero of great renown, celebrated poet and bringer of death and terror from across the Northern seas, Egil Skallagrimsson now lies in his deathbed, old and feeble and forgotten, disrespected by his kin. Yet strength remains in the old warrior - strength enough for one final task that men will remember for a thousand years, that will spite his kin and bring him a hoard of saga fame to rival the hoard of Anglo-Saxon silver that he will hide.

This is a historical fiction short story which forms the prologue of a short novel based on a fictional search (in the modern day) for Egil's silver, the location of which is one of Iceland's greatest mysteries to this day. Egil was a Viking that lived in Iceland during the 'settlement age' in the 10th century, and was given two great chests of silver coin for his part in the battle of Brunanburgh in 937 which is one of the most under-rated battles in British history. Egil's silver was his reward for helping King Aethelstan of England defeat a combined army of Scots and Norse, and secured England's borders as they are now known, completing the foundation of that country. Despite his successful career as a Viking and one of the first farmers to colonise Iceland, Egil is chiefly famous for burying his treasure shortly before his death. Despite numerous searches with increasingly sophisticated technology, it has never been found...